It began in 2015 in Shirati, a village in northwestern Tanzania. Medical student Victoria von Salmuth was interning at the local hospital, where a young mother had given birth to premature triplets. But the little babies weren’t growing: the mother wasn’t producing enough breastmilk because she had nothing to eat herself. Von Salmuth went out and bought fruit for her, and that was the start of the Shirati Food Programme. The goal is to provide one hot meal a day for women and children in the maternity ward. Now, two and a half years later, the newly graduated doctor recently returned to Shirati to see how the project is going.

Pauline Hakutangwi had never heard of Maastricht, let alone Maastricht University. Born in Zimbabwe but resident in the UK since the age of 10, she nevertheless headed for the South Limburg city in 2013 to pursue her master’s in Global Health. “It turned out to be ideal. The programme has given me a solid foundation to achieve my goal: improving the health of vulnerable groups of people.”

Remko Wessels knew exactly what he wanted when he signed up in 1986 for the brand new International Management programme at Maastricht University: an international career. Twenty five years on, there can be no doubt that the mission is accomplished. The Limburg native embarked last summer on his fifth international challenge for Unilever. We Skyped with him in Singapore.

In August 2015, alum Dirk Janssen was appointed as the Dutch ambassador to Panama. Via Business Economics at Maastricht University (UM), a stint in a consulting firm and a career at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Janssen ultimately ended up in the international environment to which he most aspired.

Rob Melief is the medical director of Genzyme Benelux, part of one of the largest biopharmaceutical companies in the world. The Tilburg native was all set to become an internist at the Maastricht academic hospital when he made a relatively abrupt career change. “I’m still a doctor at heart though.”

During her ING days she was named in the Goudhaantjes 100*, a list of rising management stars. In 2012, at the age of just 36, she became CEO of Unigarant, the insurance arm of the roadside assistance agency ANWB. In this capacity she has sat on the board of directors of the ANWB since 2014. The roots of Lidwien Suur’s meteoric rise can be traced to Maastricht, where she studied International Business.

Yuri Michielsen is a man of many talents. A brilliant legal scholar. Graduate of Maastricht University’s (UM) European Law School, winner of the Best Speaker Award at the European Law Moot Court, and holder of a master’s degree from Harvard and a PhD cum laude from Maastricht. Now, this champion of the Limburgish language is about to receive a second PhD, this time in clinical psychology, in San Francisco.